ONCE UPON A TIME
Written by Clover
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.
As I stand here on the bow of
this amazing vessel, eyes stretched across the sunset, I’m reminded of so many
that have risen and set in the last year. How fast it has all blown by, so
similar to this orange and crimson collage fading before me. If I had blinked,
I would have missed it all.
It’s true he was never the knight
in shining armor type, but I fell for him just the same. He was tall, dark, and
handsome, and I was just a foolish girl mesmerized by those charcoal eyes. As
stubborn as I can be, I’ll admit, just like every fluttering debutante, I
swooned when he chose to look at me, let alone court me. I never really would
have expected my future husband to be Cal, since it was assumed such things
were planned with great care and precision. In fact, I don’t believe it would
have been him if weren’t for that night.
I hadn’t even planned on
attending the ball, but under my good friend Eliza’s constant persistence, I
found a last minute escort and an amazing frock. So there I was, aimlessly
dancing about the floor in the arms of sweaty hands and clumsy steps. Breathing
a sigh of relief at the end of a waltz, I was hoping to make a run for it.
Somewhere between the dance floor and the illusive exit, I was petitioned for a
dance by the most eligible bachelor.
How the butterflies swooshed
about when we glided across the dance floor all night. I didn’t even feel like
I was moving my feet, but as if I was sashaying on silken clouds in my own
little world. I had found that illusive solace in Caledon’s arms that night as
we flowed to the music. I felt untouchable from any sort of pain with his arms
around me.
Perhaps that’s what I wanted so
badly when the most tragic of news struck my heart down. I had never felt much
compassion or love from my mother, as some children might receive from theirs,
but I had always had my father. However, he would not be there to wipe my tears
away and tell me it would all be all right this time. I had grown sure that the
hole in my heart from the stab of the news could not be any bigger. The months
to follow my beloved father’s passing were a mix of a courtship and lawyers
settling many discrepancies. Always I had a smile plastered on my face in time
for Cal’s usual visits so that he wouldn’t see the flaws in my pain. If it
hadn’t been for his constant attention distracting me from painful mourning, I
don’t believe I’d have been able to push through the heartache and see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
*****
Sadly, that light turned out to
be that of a train. The collision came in the middle of Christmas dinner,
shortly after my mother divulged our economic needs to me. Looking back, I feel
I played the fool for not paying attention to the fact that after courtship
comes engagement. Panicked, I sat bolted to my chair as the dreaded question
came out more as a toast than an actual proposal, with the tinkling glasses and
applause before I could even respond. But what did it really matter? My
decision was made for me the day my father died. I would be a wife and a mother
as mine had been before me. The husband faceless, later to be sketched in as a
detail no different than that of the wedding invitations and floral
arrangements.
Not even Cal has been oblivious
to my sudden change. I had once, I dare say, loved him. I grew bitter that it
was because of that love that I’d lose every part of me. My passion, my
strength, and most of all my voice will all be lost within the simple vow to
love, honor, and obey. I can only guess that it is my coldness that causes
Cal’s frustration. Such levels of aggravation that it has become our bickering
trademark as we made our way across Europe. Yet here I stand, with the chains
of an engagement ring and the only conciliation being our faded love.
The End.